By Associated Press
Birmingham, AL – Shelby, Baldwin and Madison counties posted the most population gains among Alabama counties, according to U-S Census figures.
Since the 2000 census, Baldwin has added more than 28-thousand residents, raising the coastal county's population in 2006 to 169-thousand; Madison has grown by more than 27-thousand to surpass 304-thousand; and Shelby's added 35-thousand to 178-thousand.
The seven-county Birmingham-Hoover metro area grew by nearly 12-thousand people in one year, with more than half of that growth in Shelby County.
Jefferson County, for the first time since the 2000 census, showed an increase in population, adding 686 people from 2005 to 2006.
Population losses were posted in some rural counties. Perry, Greene, Macon, Bullock, Choctaw, Sumter, Lamar and Coosa counties lost between 6 and 9 percent of their total population since the 2000 census.
More than half of the state's 67 counties now have fewer people than they did in 2000.
(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)